Yelp Selects Agency For Pan-European Assignment

DUBLIN: Influential review website Yelp has brought in agency support as it gears up for further expansion in Europe.

The US-based website has chosen Dublin’s Hopscotch Europe In One, the
international arm of French firm Hopscotch, to handle its pan-European
PR efforts, which currently include the UK, France, Germany, Ireland and
Austria.

Hopscotch will focus on specifically building awareness of Yelp’s
dedicated country websites. Globally Yelp attracts more than 38 million
monthly visitors and hosts over 14 million reviews of local businesses
worldwide.

Created in San Francisco in July 2004, Yelp is a website that
combines social networking, user review and local search to rate and
connect people with local businesses. In the US, the site has faced criticism over the fairness of negative reviews, with a lawsuit earlier this year accusing Yelp of extortion. In response to these issues, Yelp now shows which reviews are filtered by its spam algorithm.

“Yelp’s presence in Europe is increasing day after day,” said Yelp
senior PR manager Chantelle Karl. “People hear about us in various
countries and languages and are curious to see what our users have to
say about their local favorite places or new
shops and services.”

Hopscotch Europe In One will utilise its multi-cultural,
multi-language model – hubbed out of Dublin – to service the account.
“Our centralised model and extensive knowledge of Yelp’s targeted
European markets will help us strengthen their brand and positioning
throughout the continent,” said MD Patrick Frison-Roche.